Accumulating table for egg packer

ABSTRACT

An egg-accumulating table which reduces the surface area of the surface engaging the eggs by utilizing endless wirelike belts of narrow dimension. To further reduce the forward pressure exerted by the supporting wirelike belts, every other belt is returned in the same supporting plane in which it moves forward, so as to present to the eggs as every third belt, one which is moving in the opposite direction. The reversal is accomplished by utilizing a separate roller which every other belt returns to after reaching the delivery end, and a separate roller over which every other belt departs the supporting plane before reaching the initiating end of the table.

nited States Patent Burkholder 1 51 Jan. 118, 1972 [54] ACCUMULATINGTABLE FOR EGG PACKER [72] Inventor: Harvey Z. Burkholder, Ephreta, Pa.

[73] Assignee: U.S. Industries, Inc., New York, NY.

[22] Filed: Sept. 23, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 860,193

[52] US. Cl ..l98/l6l, 198/190, 198/76 [51] ..B65g 15/00 [58] FieldoiSearch ..l98/33, 161, 190

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,192,832 7/1916 Sherman..l98/33 1,341,238 5/1920 Mason ..l98/33 2,941,654 9/1957 Falconer3,260,348 7/1966 Niederer et a1 198/33 Niederer ..l98/33 Niederer..l98/30 Primary Examiner-Albert J. Makay Assistant Examiner-Jerold M.Forsberg Attorney-Price, Heneveld, Huizenga & Cooper [57] ABSTRACT Anegg-accumulating table which reduces the surface area of the surfaceengaging the eggs by utilizing endless wirelike belts of narrowdimension. To further reduce the forward pressure exerted by thesupporting wirelike belts, every other belt is returned in the samesupporting plane in which it moves forward, so as to present to the eggsas every third belt, one which is moving in the opposite direction. Thereversal is accomplished by utilizing a separate roller which everyother belt returns to after reaching the delivery end, and a separateroller over which every other belt departs the supporting plane beforereaching the initiating end of the table.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED JAN] 81972 SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG. 2-INVENTOR HARVEY z. BURKHOLDER ATTORNEYS PATENTEUJANI 8:972 3635328 sum 2or 2 F INVENTOR 5 HARVEY Z. BURKHOLDER ATTORNEYS ACCUMULATING TABLE FOREGG PACKER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Egg-packing apparatus such asthat disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,31 1,216 require accumulating devicesto insure that a constant stream of eggs is flowing into the orientationpart of the machine and to allow groups of eggs to be deposited forfeeding to the machine. The problem in the past has been that theaccumulating devices, in order to maintain sufficient pressure so as tomaintain the feed to the egg-packing apparatus, have either caused eggsto pile up at the entrance to the packing apparatus or have requiredexpensive and elaborate devices for preventing such pileups. The pileupsare undesirable because eventually the eggs start spilling over themachine resulting in breakage. Eggs pile up and fall back down on othereggs causing checks, cracks and breaks.

On the other hand, if the pressure of the eggs being fed into themachine is reduced so that there is no pileup, very often the pressurewill be insufficient to maintain feed whenever openings occur in thepacking apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an accumulating tablefor supplying eggs to an egg-packing apparatus without piling up theeggs. Specifically, the invention concerns such an accumulating tablecomprising a supporting surface in contact with the egg restrainingmeans for preventing eggs from falling off the sides of the table, andreducing means for reducing the area of the supporting surface incontact with the eggs, the reducing means including means for providingto the eggs a resultant direction of movement with respect to thepreventing means. The latter includes means for urging eggs in adirection parallel with respect to the preventing means and at least oneof a plurality of wirelike belts which form the supporting surface andare included in the reducing means.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an accumulatingtable which will simply and efficiently supply eggs constantly to anegg-packing apparatus without piling up the eggs at the point of entryinto the machine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a table of the abovecharacter which is inexpensive to produce and easy to operate.

It is a related object to provide a table of the above character inwhich columns confining the eggs are initiated without causing a buildupof eggs in the columns.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reference to thefollowing drawings and detailed discussion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view,partially broken away, illustrating a portion of the accumulating tableconstructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view in perspective illustrating the table of FIG. 1 inconjunction with the dejammer plow;

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view illustrating the supportingwirelike belts of the accumulating table;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a holddown cover utilized inconjunction with the dejammer plow;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the table illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view partially broken away,illustrating part of the drive of the dejammer plow; and

FIG. 7 is the same view as shown in FIG. 6 except that the remainder ofthe drive is shown.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention provides anaccumulating table for supplying eggs to an egg-packing apparatus (notshown), the latter being for example the apparatus disclosed in US Pat.No. 3,311,216 or which may be the apparatus disclosed in my copendingapplication Ser. No. 863,893 filed Oct. 6, 1969,

which latter is commonly owned with this application. The structure ofthe egg-packing apparatus itself is not critical with respect to thisinvention, it being only necessary to supply the eggs from the table ofthe invention whenever an opening occurs in the egg-packing apparatus,such as when the eggs are advanced one step at a time in the packingapparatus. Such continual feeding requires a backup of eggs on theaccumulating table, and it is the control of this backup which I haveaccomplished with the invention.

ACCUMULATING TABLE In accordance with the invention, the accumulatingtable comprises a frame 20 having two sidewalls 22 to prevent eggs fromfalling off the sides, a drive roller 24 mounted at the end of the table20 which feeds to the egg-packing apparatus, an idler roller 26 at theopposite end of the accumulating table, and two other idler rollers 28and 29 located beneath the drive roller 24 and the idler roller 26,respectively. To drive the drive roller 24, a sprocket 31 is mounted onthe end thereof and is driven via a chain by a motor 33. To reduce theamount of surface friction engaging the eggs, the egg-supportingsurfaces of the table is formed by a plurality of wirelike belts 30rather than a fully extended fabric. The belts are endless with acircular cross section, and individually comprise belts 32, 34, 36, 38and 40, there being others utilized but not labeled so that the entiretable is covered by the belts as shown for example in FIG. 5. The beltscan be formed of any material, one example being urethane strings ofvia-inch diameter. To give support to the belts as the eggs are carriedalong the table from one end to the other, support rollers 42 roll onpins in holes in the sidewalls 22 just under the plane formed by therollers 24 and 26. The rollers preferably have a vinyl cover thereon.

To carry the eggs from the end of the table defined by idler roller 26to the end of the table defined by the driven roller 24 where theyaccumulate, the endless belts 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40 are rotated fromright to left as seen in FIG. I, and with respect to the sidewalls, andcarried over the support rollers 42. The driving of the wirelike beltsis accomplished by the engagemcnt of drive roller24 with the belts.

To reduce the pressure urging the eggs toward the drive roller 24, meansare included for returning every other belt back to the end of the tabledefined by idler roller 26 above the stationary bars 42 so that everythird belt forming the eggengaging surface is reversed, that is, drivenin a direction opposite to the direction to the motion of the otherbelts. Thus, as seen in FIG. 1, belts 34 and 38 are not returned underthe support rollers 42 as are the belts 32, 36, and 40, but rather theyare returned in the same plane above the support rollers 42 in whichthey came. Belt 34 thus returns as a portion 34a which travels in thedirection opposite to the direction which the remainder of the belt 34is traversing, while belt 38 returns as a portion 38a in the directionopposite to the direction which the remainder of the belt 38 is passing.I have found that the reversal of motion of every third belt forming theegg-engaging surface prevents the eggs from piling up in the undesiredfashion. To accomplish this reversal of every other belt in theegg-engaging surface, idler rollers 50 and 52 are spaced in the plane ofthe rollers 24 and 26 but within the rectangle defined by those rollersand the sidewalls 22. Thus, when belt 34 moving from right to leftpasses over drive roller 24 and the idler 28, instead of returning underthe support rollers 42 it is wound around the idler roller 28 more thanso as to return as portion 34a to the plane of the egg-engaging surface.That belt is then partially wound around idler rollers 50 and 52 beforeengaging the idler roller 29 and the idler rollers 26 in that order. Thesame operation occurs with the belt 38.

The idler rollers 28, 30, 50 and 52 may be smooth, or as shown in FIG.3, they may include circumferential recesses 54 to insure that therewill be prevented any side slippage of the belt portion passing in theopposite direction, such as belt portion 34a. l have found that ineither form, the idler rollers maintain the proper spacing of theendless belts so as to insure that eggs do not fall therethrough. Itwill be readily appreciated by one skilled that to that end the endlessbelts must be spaced relatively close together, one example beingonefourth inch between belts as they pass over the support rollers 42,every third belt being spaced from the next or fourth belt byone-halfinch, producing groups of threes. (See FIG. 2.)

DEJAMMER PLOW AND HOLDDOWN COVER To initiate the formation of columns atthe delivery end of table 20, a dejammer plow 62 forming entrancecolumns 64 by the partitions 66 thereof reciprocates vertically by meansof a sidebar 68 which rides on a cam 70 driven by an extension of driveroller 24 comprising a shaft 72, a sprocket mounted thereon, and a chain76 operating from a second sprocket 78 mounted on shaft 24. Thisprevents eggs designated as E" from jamming sideways in their entranceinto the machine. It is within this area of the dejammer plow that theeggs tend to pile up. That is, the eggs leading to the aisles tend topile up even before they enter the aisles. To prevent this lasttendency, a cover 80 is cantilevered from a bar 82, one end of which hasattached an arm 84 which rests on a microswitch so as to close the same.When buildup occurs under the cover 80, it rises, thereby rotating thebar 82 so as to lift the arm 84 from the microswitch. Opening the switchshuts down the machine, notifying the operator that a defectivesituation exists.

In addition, the eggs tend to pile up in aisles 64 even though the plowinsures that they are not jammed in sideways. To prevent buildup of eggswithin the dejammer plow, a holddown cover 90 is utilized in conjunctiontherewith. The cover comprises a support bar 92 extending the full widthof the table, an extension 94 thereof resting on one sidewall 22. Tohold down eggs which have moved into the columns formed by the plow 62,plates 96 (FIG. 4) are spring-biasedly attached to the support bar,springs 98 allowing the plates to rise vertically. Each plate and springis cantilevered separately from the bar to fit its appropriate column.To limit the upward movement of each plate 96, a screw 100 is passedthrough the support bar above each plate. The adjustment of the screwallows the platess upward movement to be increased for larger sizedeggs.

OPERATION Because of the resultant movement of the eggs from idlerroller 26 to the driving roller 24, eggs placed on the table will beurged to feed into the dejammer plow 62 and thence into the egg-packingapparatus. Because wires or belts are used to form the supportingsurface, there is a reduction in the friction provided to the eggs. Thisreduction of friction is further accomplished by bringing back everyother belt on top of the plane formed by the rollers 42 rather thanbelow it, so that the eggs encounter as every third supporting belt abelt going in the opposite direction. The holddown cover keeps the eggsfrom piling up in the dejammer plow.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed and defined as follows:

1. An accumulating table for supplying eggs to an automatic egg-packingmachine having an egg-supporting surface in contact with the eggs andrestraining means for preventing eggs from falling off said surface atthe sides of the table the improvement in said supporting surfacecomprising:

a plurality of wirelike members located between said restraining meansand extending substantially parallel thereto, said members being spacedapart a distance less than the smallest dimension of the eggs, andforming an unobstructed egg support surface;

motive means driving at least some of said members in a first directionto urge the eggs in a direction parallel with respect to saidrestraining means while simultaneously moving others of said members inan opposite direction for providing to the eggs a resultant direction ofmovement with respect to said restraining means and to prevent the eggsfrom piling up on the table.

2. The table as defined in claim 1, wherein said members are endlesswirelike belts.

3. The table as defined in claim 2, wherein all of said endless wirelikebelts are mounted for endless driving between said restraining means,said motive means including a drive roller at one end of said tableengaging all of said belts; and further including stationary bars overwhich said some of said belts return, and under which said others ofsaid belts return.

4. The table as defined in claim 3, and further including means forreversing said some of said belts so that it passes over said stationarybars in both directions of movement with respect to said restrainingmeans.

5. The table as defined in claim 4, wherein said reversing meansincludes an idler roller spaced from said drive roller around whichevery other belt is partially wound; and a second idler roller rotatablymounted below said drive roller; said every other belt being wound morethan around said second idler roller.

6. The table as defined in claim 5, wherein said idler rollers includemeans for preventing any side slippage of said every other belt alongsaid idler rollers.

7. The table as defined in claim 6, wherein said means includecircumferential recesses in said idler rollers.

8. The table as defined in claim 3 wherein said motive means includemeans for driving said some of said belts above said bars in a directionopposite to the direction of motion of the remaining belts above saidbars.

9. The table as defined in claim 8, wherein said driving means includesa first idler roller spaced from said drive roller around which everythird belt passing above said bars is partially wound, and a secondidler roller rotatably mounted below said drive roller, said every thirdbelt being wound more than 90 around said second idler roller prior toits engagement with said first idler roller.

1. An accumulating table for supplying eggs to an automatic eggpackingmachine having an egg-supporting surface in contact with the eggs andrestraining means for preventing eggs from falling off said surface atthe sides of the table the improvement in said supporting surfacecomprising: a plurality of wirelike members located between saidrestraining means and extending substantially parallel thereto, saidmembers being spaced apart a distance less than the smallest dimensionof the eggs, and forming an unobstructed egg support surface; motivemeans driving at least some of said members in a first direction to urgethe eggs in a direction parallel with respect to said restraining meanswhile simultaneously moving others of said members in an oppositedirection for providing to the eggs a resultant direction of movementwith respect to said restraining means and to prevent the eggs frompiling up on the table.
 2. The table as defined in claim 1, wherein saidmembers are endless wirelike belts.
 3. The table as defined in claim 2,wherein all of said endless wirelike belts are mounted for endlessdriving between said restraining means, said motive means including adrive roller at one end of said table engaging all of said belts; andfurther including stationary bars over which said some of said beltsreturn, and under which said others of said belts return.
 4. The tableas defined in claim 3, and further including means for reversing saidsome of said belts so that it passes over said stationary bars in bothdirections of movement with respect to said restraining means.
 5. Thetable as defined in claim 4, wherein said reversing means includes anidler roller spaced from said drive roller around which every other beltis partially wound; and a second idler roller rotatably mounted belowsaid drive roller; said every other belt being wound more than 90*around said second idler roller.
 6. The table as defined in claim 5,wherein said idler rollers include means for preventing any sideslippage of said every other belt along said idler rollers.
 7. The tableas defined in claim 6, wherein said means include circumferentialrecesses in said idler rollers.
 8. The table as defined in claim 3wherein said motive means include means for driving said some of saidbelts above said bars in a direction opposite to the direction of motionof the remaining belts above said bars.
 9. The table as defined in claim8, wherein said driving means includes a first idler roller spaced fromsaid drive roller around which every third belt passing above said barsis partially wound, and a second idler roller rotatably mounted belowsaid drive roller, said every third belt being wound more than 90*around said second idler roller prior to its engagement with said firstidler roller.